So, who does one go to to get into this market and start beaming to their satellite? In short, who are “they”??? :dubious:
Very logically,
Jinx out…
There are companies that run commercial broadcasting satellites. One of those companies is SES Global (Société Européenne des Satellites), which is based in Luxembourg and operates, among others, the Astra satellites which serve a large portion of European satellite TV consumers. Another example is Intelsat, which was founded as an intergovernmental consortium but is now a private company.
Basically, your radio station will conclude a contract with a satellite operator: You pay, and they will transmit your signals on their fleet.
If you’re talking about XM or Sirius, the short answer is “get hired in their programming department.” Or, in XM’s case, get hired at Clear Channel before CC’s carry agreement with XM expires.
Virtually all the programming carried on XM and Sirius is produced in-house (with the exception of news/talk shows syndicated onto XM.) Taking a scan through XM’s channel listing, the only non in-house channels (excepting the CC-provided channels) I see are Radio Disney and Air America (Hear Music, which is co-branded with Starbucks, is produced in-house.) XM does simulcast the audio feeds of CNN, CNNHN, Fox News, CNBC, E! and ESPNEWS, and carries the full syndication schedule for networks like ESPN Radio, Fox News Talk, ABC News & Talk and Sporting News Radio.
Satellite radio isn’t like DirecTV/DISH Network, where someone can start a network and try to get picked up. It may head that direction eventually, but for now they produce most of their own programming.